Five former UCLA Baseball players opened the season on Major League Baseball active rosters with another 24 competing at the minor league level.
Trevor Bauer (Cleveland Indians), Trevor Brown (San Francisco Giants), Gerrit Cole (Pittsburgh Pirates), Brandon Crawford (San Francisco Giants) and Chase Utley (Los Angeles Dodgers) all made their initial 25-man opening day rosters. Additionally, Dave Roberts begins his first season as manager of the Dodgers, joining Ron Roenicke as the second former UCLA player to be named manager at the MLB level.
Bauer (2009-11) begins his fifth season in the majors and fourth season with the Cleveland Indians. After debuting with the Arizona Diamondbacks in 2012, Bauer has spent his remaining time with the Cleveland organization. The right-hander has posted an 18-24 record with a 4.53 ERA in 66 appearances (64 starts). The 2011 Golden Spikes Award winner has racked up 343 strikeouts in 363.1 career innings at the big league level.
Brown (2010-12) enters his first full season with the Giants after debuting on September 19 of last season. The Newhall native will begin the season as Buster Posey's primary back-up behind the plate in San Francisco. Brown appeared in 13 games down the stretch last season, posting a .231 average with five RBI in 39 at-bats.
Cole (2009-11) begins his fourth season in the majors, all with the Pirates. One of the league's best young pitchers, Cole finished last season fourth in the NL Cy Young voting after posting a 19-8 record with a 2.60 ERA and 202 strikeouts. The right-hander led the Pirates to a Wild Card berth and earned the start in the lone playoff game. Cole holds career marks of 40-20 with a 3.07 ERA and 440 strikeouts in 73 games (73 starts).
Crawford (2006-08) is in his sixth campaign with the Giants where he's helped lead them to two World Series championships. The 2015 NL Gold Glove award winner at shortstop has improved in each one of his big league seasons and finished last year with career-high totals in average (.256), home runs (21) and RBI (84). As durable as they come, Crawford has played in at least 143 games in each of his last four seasons with the club. In 656 career games, Crawford has posted a .246 career average with 48 home runs and 263 RBI.
Utley (1998-00) begins his 14th MLB season and second season with the Dodgers in 2016. A long-time member of the Philadelphia Phillies, Utley was traded in the middle of last season to Los Angeles. He led Philadelphia to two National League titles, one World Series championship and has played in six MLB All-Star Games in his career. In 1,587 career games, the Pasadena native has hit .281 with 236 home runs and 927 RBI.
Roberts (1992-95) opens the season as an MLB manager for the first time. Roberts had been a member of the Padres organization since 2010, including most recently serving as bench coach under Bud Black last season. As a player, Roberts played for five organizations over a 10-year career and won a World Series championship with the Boston Red Sox in 2004.
In addition to the major league Bruins, 24 UCLA baseball alums will start the season in the minor leagues looking for their chance to make it to the majors. Overall, 10 of those players will start in double-A or triple-A on the cusp of a call-up to the big leagues.
In the 96-year history of UCLA's baseball program, 77 Bruins have had the opportunity to play Major League baseball, 14 of whom played under current head coach John Savage (Hector Ambriz, Trevor Bauer, Charles Brewer, Trevor Brown, Tyson Brummett, Gerrit Cole, Brandon Crawford, Jermaine Curtis, Cody Decker, Erik Goeddel, Matt Grace, David Huff, Rob Rasmussen and Josh Roenicke). At least one player from every UCLA baseball team from 1965-2012 has advanced to the majors.